


Starving For A Moonbeam

by kaguneko (alittlecoco)



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: ACWNR, Gen, INDEFINITE HIATUS, M/M, Pining, canonverse, one-sided ish, rated M for violence, something like slice-of-life, tho i took some liberties
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-03
Updated: 2018-02-03
Packaged: 2019-03-12 20:33:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13555065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alittlecoco/pseuds/kaguneko
Summary: Thug trio shenanigans, some pining, and Isabel being Best Girl.





	Starving For A Moonbeam

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AceRinky (Asexual_Ravioli)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asexual_Ravioli/gifts).



> Never saw myself writing levifar, but here we are and I'm dying. G O D I love this trio.
> 
> Warnings for injury, violence, descriptions of scarring and wounds.

 

Farlan rarely smiled and Levi hardly remembered how, but Isabel’s grin could light up the whole of the Underground. _Fuck your sun_ , Levi thought bitterly in the direction of a military police officer walking stiffly through the market. Nearby, Isabel scattered her beaming laughter over a stunned looking baker.

  
Levi knew she was up to something by the way she’d hardly been able to contain her grin all morning; the light had leaked out of the corners of her mouth and turned her eyes jewel-bright. But she’d give herself away almost as soon as Levi could pry it out of her, so he left it alone. Even if getting her to the market that afternoon without detours was like trying to wrangle a sunbeam.

  
They had extra money this week; Levi had robbed a greasy officer as he left the run-down brothel a street over from theirs a couple nights back. He still felt high off the way the man crumpled at his feet. From the weight of Farlan’s steady, approving stare and the way his brows raised. Levi thought, for a long moment, that he might smile. He hadn’t, but then again neither had Levi.

  
Levi had shivered.

  
He reached to run a finger over the coin purse hidden in his vest. The money he wasn’t hoarding, he planned to spend on food—just to see Isabel light up a little more. Her shoulder blades jutted sharply beneath her thin shirt in a way that turned Levi’s stomach cold with shame. He thought he might be able to sew her something thicker out of the blankets on his bed.

  
“Farlan,” Levi muttered, turning to where he thought Farlan had been trailing close behind. He opened his mouth to tell Farlan to take a few coins for meat, but his lips curled into a terrible snarl instead. “Isabel!” he barked over the panicked shouting of the baker she’d been conning.

  
Isabel was bracing herself, tiny fists and her sharp knife held high, while a thug advanced on her with a knife and that stiff officer looked on with an entertained, lazy expression. Levi distantly thought he recognized the thick man from a gang they’d preyed on last week. He searched the market frantically and caught sight of Farlan a few vendors down from Isabel and the thug.

  
“ _Hey_ ,” Levi shouted, thinking if he could just get the thug to _look at him instead_ — The crowd around him was so thick it felt like a solid wall of unmoving flesh and blood. “Fuck, _move_ ,” he growled.

  
Farlan’s head whipped around at Levi’s tone. For an instant he stared, wide-eyed at Levi who was fighting through the crowd at a sprint, desperately wishing he’d worn his gear, and then Farlan was springing, launching himself in front of Isabel just in time to catch the knife in his side as he plowed shoulder-first into the thug.

  
Levi’s breath caught and he shoved someone to the ground. “ _Move_ ,” he snarled. He was five feet away. Five feet too far.

  
The hulking man dripped a hideous look down on Farlan’s doubled-up shoulders, “ _Move_ ,” he echoed.

  
“Go for the head,” Farlan hissed just loud enough for Levi to catch.

  
“Shut the _fuck_ up,” the thug snarled, pulling his knife back and grabbing Farlan’s hair. Levi saw red. Blood on the knife, blood boiling in his veins.

  
“ _You_ shut the fuck up,” Isabel spat. With a grim expression, she swung her leg high over Farlan’s hunched shoulders, catching the thug’s head with a crack that Levi heard from where he’d skidded to a stop. The man reeled back, dropping Farlan, as Levi sprang forward the last few feet to ram his fist into the thug’s dazed face.

  
Farlan crumpled to his knees, leaning back against Isabel’s legs, hand shoved against his ribs. Levi glimpsed more red. Blood spread slowly out from under Farlan’s fingers.

  
Levi swallowed back a sick lurch. The thug didn’t move and the market was so deadly silent Levi could hear the shaky wheezing from the baker.

  
“Farlan,” he said in a tense voice that burst out far too loud. “Can you walk?”

  
Farlan turned his face up to offer Levi a tight smile. Levi hated it. “He got my ribs, not my legs,” Farlan drawled, like he was being funny.

  
“Can. You. Walk.” Levi repeated.

  
“Hey,” Isabel said softly. She ruffled Farlan’s hair and gently tugged one of his ears. “Course he can.” His head rested back against Isabel’s stomach for a moment before he nodded up at Levi, wry twist of his mouth settling into a serious, flat line.

  
Levi cast Farlan another hard look, trying to understand why the way he leaned against Isabel made his own teeth hurt, before turning on his heel to stalk over to the officer, who blinked in surprise at his bristling advance.

  
Levi spat at the officer’s feet, exposing his teeth with pleasure at the stray droplets of saliva that flecked his boots. “Fuck off,” he growled. The officer opened and closed his mouth like a fish. Levi rolled his eyes and clucked his tongue. “Idiot,” he snapped, twirling his knife just to watch the man flinch before whirling to return to Isabel and Farlan. Farlan’s eyes were unwavering as he watched Levi, despite the pained tightness in their downturned corners and the way he still leaned heavily back against the Isabel's legs. Levi snarled at him as well.

  
The hand Levi offered him was gentle though, and Farlan’s mouth quirked when Levi pulled him to his feet.

  
“Thanks,” Isabel chirped, beaming up at Farlan. Her nerves didn’t dampen the light behind her grin. Levi dragged a hand down his face.

  
Farlan blew a heavy breath through his nose and leaned his weight against Levi’s shoulder, surprising him slightly. His muscles shivered where they pressed against Levi. Farlan offered Isabel that exasperatedly fond expression he reserved for her, not mentioning the way Levi stiffened and held stone-still beneath his weight. “Of course, bird,” he said, his light drawl rumbling through Levi’s bones. “Nice kick.”

  
Isabel preened.

  
“Come on,” Levi muttered, feeling wound tight and ready to split lips. He glanced at Isabel. She nodded and darted ahead, zig-zagging up the street, before looping back to run a circle behind Levi and Farlan.

  
“Do I need to carry you?” Levi asked Farlan, who still leaned against his shoulder.

  
Farlan let out rattling breath that Levi thought was supposed to be a laugh. “Nah. I’ll make it,” he said. “Just grazed me.”

  
Levi relaxed minutely.

  
Farlan caught the loosening of his muscles and cast Levi a sidelong glance. “Worried?”

  
“You got stabbed.” Levi shot Farlan a sharp glare and then moved ahead, slowly enough that Farlan could keep up, his knife at the ready.

  
“Not the first time,” Farlan sighed. Levi ignored him, not liking that one bit.

  
They’d nearly made it home before Levi’s nerves had settled enough for his rage to bubble over. Farlan had been quiet on the trip back, the only noise coming from him being his tight breathing and the occasional pained hitch of his breath.

  
Each sharp hiss made Levi’s irritation flare brighter. As Isabel scampered ahead to scout out their street, Levi glanced up at Farlan’s face, surprised to find him close enough that Levi could see the fine red lines of exhaustion in his pale eyes. When they paused to wait in the shadows, Farlan leaned against the building beside them. He slumped down. Blood had spread nearly to the waistband of his trousers. Levi’s stomach lurched again.

  
He set his jaw, glancing and down the street. “Are you an idiot?” he finally growled. “I’m stronger than you. I could’ve knocked that asshole flat.”

  
“You _did_ knock him flat,” Farlan huffed, and then hissed, teeth clicking together as he winced. “Doesn’t matter that you’re stronger if I’m closer.”

  
His voice was mellow as ever under the crackle of pain, but Levi felt the words like ice water. “What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”

  
Farlan sighed. “Nothing.” He rubbed at the bridge of his nose with the hand that wasn't pressed against his wound. He smeared a bit of blood on his nose. “Just meant it literally. I was closer.”

  
Levi frowned. Farlan gazed back, very calmly for a man who’d just been stabbed. The blood stood out brilliant on his washed-out face. Isabel whistled from up ahead, beginning on a low note that climbed high and shrill. Farlan raised a brow. Isabel popped her freckled face around the corner.

  
“Well? Are you coming?” she trilled. Her eyes were wide with worry. “Did you punch him, big bro?” She eyed the blood on Farlan’s nose.

  
Levi huffed.

  
Farlan winked at her and then offered Levi another slow glance.

  
Levi nodded grimly. “I’m not happy with you,” he snipped, letting Farlan lean against him when he pushed himself away from the wall.

  
Farlan laughed, breath ruffling Levi’s hair. “But you’d have done the same,” Farlan said softly.

  
“Fuck you,” Levi replied.

  
Farlan laughed again, wincing bodily enough that Levi felt it. Then he took a couple of off-kilter steps down their street.

  
“I hope your stitches hurt,” Levi said watching Isabel flit ahead, taking the stairs up to their apartment two at a time, her knife braced, glinting beautifully. Her kick had been brilliant. Deadly and efficient and everything their little sunbeam usually wasn’t.

  
“No, you don’t,” Farlan said in a tone that sounded exactly like his calm, approving stare looked.

 

* * *

 

 

“This isn’t a graze,” Levi said flatly, trying to ignore the way his brain screamed images of infections splitting wide and leaving behind greenish corpses. He swallowed around his heartbeat. Farlan sat in one of their rickety wooden chairs, the one Levi usually slept in. His ruined shirt lay heaped at his feet, and on the table, next to where Isabel had perched herself despite Levi’s grumblings, steamed a pot of boiling water. Levi stared at the bloody, oozing gash and then at Farlan’s pale face. Even his eyes looked more washed out than usual. The blood on his nose was driving Levi mad.

  
“Farlan,” Isabel said in a soft voice.

  
Farlan flicked his gaze to her. She held Levi’s sewing basket between fingers as bone-white as Farlan’s face. He tilted his head at her questioningly and Levi wondered if it hurt him to speak.

  
Isabel lifted her chin. “I forbid you to do that again.”

  
Farlan blinked and then laughed, wincing as he did so. “No promises, bird.”

  
Isabel sighed a quiet growl. “Thanks,” she said again, looking away with a faint blush.

  
Levi clicked his tongue and pulled a chair alongside Farlan’s. The wound gaped in thick, angry line that curved around his ribs, spanning several inches.

  
“You won’t be able to fly for a while,” Levi said quietly, dipping a rag in the hot water.

  
“No, but Isabel will,” Farlan said even softer, leaning forward so Isabel wouldn’t be able to read his lips.

  
“You bastard,” Levi muttered. His stomach gave an odd lurch, different from the panicky churning. “Hey,” he said louder, over the skipping tick of his heart. “Look here and don’t move.” Farlan lifted his head, eyes widening and froze obediently. Levi reached out and swiped a damp rag at the scarlet smear on his nose. Farlan didn’t even blink. “Better,” Levi said, a little distantly, when the blood was gone. There was a bump on Farlan’s delicate nose than looked like he’d broken it at least once.

  
He looked away from Farlan’s round, clear eyes and wet another rag.

  
Farlan swallowed a hiss when Levi pressed the rag to his side. His muscles twitched. Isabel made an unhappy sound.

  
Farlan lifted his head to look at her. “Why don’t you go get it now?” he said, the edges of his voice tight.

  
Levi dabbed at the edges of the wound, praying against the odds the man’s knife had been clean. It was probably fucking filthy. He gritted his teeth against the fear threatening to blur his vision to grey-tones.

  
Isabel nodded and slunk off the table, retreating to the bedroom. If she had a tail, it would have been tucked between her legs.

  
Levi raised a brow when Farlan glanced at him. He recalled Isabel’s lilting laughter all that morning, and the way she’d tried to get Levi to dance with her at breakfast, giggling when he asked if she was drunk. He’d completely forgotten that he’d suspected she was up to something.

  
“Does it hurt?” he asked before Isabel returned.

  
“Oh, no,” Farlan said. “Not at all.”

  
Levi narrowed his eyes.

  
“I can’t feel a thing.” Farlan’s mouth twitched.

  
“So it won’t hurt when I sew you up,” Levi drawled.

  
“In fact, I suspect it’ll feel good.” Farlan’s face was pinched in pain, but he managed a lopsided smirk.

  
“I’ll be sure to use a big needle, then,” Levi shot back, already trying to locate the absolute thinnest needle he owned. Farlan blanched slightly and Levi muttered, “Fuck,” under his breath as he threaded the needle.

  
Isabel tripped back into the room when Levi began to stitch together the edges of Farlan’s wound. The tendons on Farlan’s hand stood out sharply where he held onto the edges of the table.

  
He huffed. “No matter how many times this happens, still a weird sensation.” His voice crackled.

  
“You look like a patchwork quilt,” Levi mumbled, wondering if he was staring too much at the mottled bruises and ragged scars twisting across Farlan’s torso. He flushed when he realized Isabel was hovering behind him.

  
“You okay?” she asked.

  
“ ’m fantastic,” Farlan said in a voice almost as ragged as his scars.

  
“Not you,” Isabel chirped. “Big bro. You queasy?”

  
“Harsh,” Farlan grumbled.

  
Inexplicably, Levi’s neck warmed further. “Why are you hovering?” he said flatly.

  
Isabel hoisted herself back onto the table, folding her legs beneath her. “Don’t bite my head off,” she said mildly. She held something behind her back.

  
Levi shot her a venomous glance.

  
Isabel’s mouth curled into a blazing grin. “I have a present,” she said proudly.

  
Levi’s lips parted, face falling slack. Farlan laughed softly.

  
“What?” Levi said blankly.

  
Isabel’s grin widened. “Farlan, your impression was spot on this morning,” she cackled.

  
Levi flicked a betrayed look to Farlan, who kept his face carefully neutral. “I have no idea what she’s referring to.”

  
“You’re all bastards,” Levi muttered.

  
“You say that now,” Isabel chirped. “Look!” She held up the thing that she’d been hiding behind her back like it was a ticket to the world above.

  
Levi peered at the object and realized maybe it was.

  
Between her tiny fingers, Isabel held a book.

  
Levi stilled with his fingers still pressed up against Farlan’s ribs, feeling the shallow rise and fall of his breath. “Isabel,” he said softly.

  
Isabel’s grin cracked wider at the sound of his voice. “I found it,” she beamed. “Last night while you cleaned.”

  
Levi glanced at Farlan, who shrugged, looking as mystified as Levi under the amused twist of his mouth.

  
“Can you read?” Levi asked.

  
Isabel’s smile dimmed. “No,” she mumbled.

  
Levi turned to Farlan, heart skipping when he realized his fingers were still pressed to his warm ribs. “Can you?” he said gruffly.

  
“Nothing beyond the basics. Gotta be sure I don’t steal the wrong stuff.” Farlan didn’t look fazed, and Levi removed his hands from Farlan’s body as casually as he could manage.

  
It was dawning on Levi, what they wanted. He cast a resigned look at Isabel, who’s green eyes were beguilingly round.

  
“Please, big bro.”

  
Levi sighed. “Shit,” he groaned. “Let me check the stitches and wash up first.”

  
Isabel crowed. Farlan’s low laughter sent ripples down Levi’s spine.

 

* * *

  

  
“Why do you always wind up on my bed?” Levi asked when he was finished scrubbing his arms and the table, and had left the bloodied rags to soak. He found Isabel already curled up on his bed with the book in her lap, and Farlan looking like he was debating sitting down beside her. His patchwork chest was wrapped in Levi’s extra bedsheets, torn into strips that crisscrossed his scars. A particularly dark bruise spread across Farlan’s hip, catching Levi’s attention. He had a hard time looking away from Farlan’s navel for a moment.

  
Farlan had a nice stomach, which was something Levi had never considered before, generally just thinking of stomachs as things people shoved food into if they were lucky. Farlan wasn’t skin-and-bones, nor was he terribly muscular. He was finely put together and efficient, lower belly and chest covered in a fine dusting of silvery blond hair. It was… nice, Levi thought again, which wasn’t at all the same as efficient. And while he wanted to put food in Farlan’s belly, it was in a proud sort of way that turned his own stomach hot.

  
He growled to shake himself and shot Isabel a withering look. She returned a warm smile of her own and patted the space next to her. On his bed.

  
“Unbelievable,” Levi muttered. He sat primly beside her with his back against the cold wall.

  
“Your bed is the cleanest,” Isabel said matter-of-factly. She leaned up against him and ducked when he went to tug the end of her hair.

  
“All the more reason not to sit on it.” Levi looked at Farlan, who still hovered a few feet off. “What? Are you waiting for a personal fucking invitation?”

  
Farlan hesitated a moment longer before gingerly placing his knee on the bed. “Didn’t want to bleed on your bed,” he said.

  
Levi glanced at his ruined bedsheets wound about Farlan’s ribs. “You already did.”

  
Farlan grimaced. “Ah,” he murmured apologetically, moving to slowly sit next to Levi, leaving a gap between their bodies, unlike Isabel. Levi wondered for a moment, what it would be like to touch Farlan as freely as he ruffled Isabel’s hair. He couldn’t imagine it. Perhaps it was because Isabel was made up of warm colors and fluttering laughter, while Farlan was cool shadows and pale moonlight. Those were hard to hold onto.

  
“Whatever,” Levi muttered. He held his hand out for the book Isabel clutched. She handed it over with an excited little exhale. It felt heavier than Levi expected, and he traced the red leather cover carefully. Farlan leaned closer to peer over his shoulder, warm breath ghosting Levi’s face. Levi opened the book slowly, listening to the loud crackle of its tired spine. His eyes widened as he found himself gazing at sketch of something he’d never seen before. He didn’t know what it was, but it was beautiful. Shaped like a horn, spiraled and symmetrical.

  
“Isabel,” he said quietly. “Where did you find this?”

  
Isabel blinked owlishly at him. “In that half-burnt down house. Just before you get to the canals in West Block.”

  
Levi looked at her sharply, remembering the fire a couple weeks back; they’d been worried it would spread through the whole of the Underground.

  
Isabel flushed and tucked her face against his shoulder. “Yeah, yeah,” she said. “I was just curious.”

  
The feeling of Farlan tracing the letters on the page caught Levi’s attention, sparing Isabel from a proper chastising. “What’s that say?” he asked.

  
“Flora and Fauna,” Levi replied, stunned.

  
Farlan dragged his long, slender finger down to stroke the spiraled, horn-shaped object beneath the words, his shoulder brushing Levi’s. The motion made the hair on Levi’s head stand on end. “I don’t know what that is,” he said, and Levi didn’t know if he meant the words, or the strange image he was running his finger over and over.

  
“I think the police set that fire,” Levi said, reeling a little. He blinked at Farlan, brain scrambling.

  
Farlan glanced up to frown at him.

  
“This book is about what’s outside the Walls,” Levi said. “I think,” he amended, because hell if he knew what he was actually looking at.

  
“What?” Farlan said, mellow drawl turning whip-sharp. His nose was inches from Levi’s.

  
Isabel’s fingers curled about Levi’s chin, dragging his stunned face from Farlan’s. Levi let her. “Read me the book,” she begged with wide, wide eyes.

  
Levi swallowed.

  
“Please, big brother?”

  
“Yeah,” Levi rasped. “Right.” He turned the next page. “Isabel, please don’t go back to that house.”

  
Isabel shivered against him. “Yeah. I got that,” she murmured.

 

 

  
For all her excitement, Isabel fell asleep tucked up against Levi’s body only a couple of pages in and Levi realized with a pang that they hadn’t gotten food like he’d planned. Isabel had a habit of curling up to sleep if she was too hungry. He closed the book, blood buzzing, and looked down at where Isabel’s shirt had pulled away from her thin shoulders. He gritted his teeth.

  
Farlan had slumped down against the wall, letting his shoulder press to Levi’s as he’d carefully traced each of the images Levi read about. Plants and birds, and this impossible thing called the sea. It had been… nice. More than nice. Levi’s scalp tingled and he wanted to keep reading so he could watch the play of Farlan’s hands across the pages.

  
Farlan released a heavy sigh when Levi closed the book. “Where’d you learn to read?” he asked, voice rough from disuse.

  
Levi swallowed. “A long time ago.”

  
“That’s a when, not a where.” Farlan watched him carefully, eyes warm in the lamplight.

  
“The Underground,” Levi said. He raised a brow when Farlan rolled his eyes. “Should have asked a who,” Levi snipped.

  
Farlan sighed again, mildly exasperated, and let his weight rest a little heavier against Levi. Levi felt too warm and far too safe pinned between him and Isabel. He felt dangerously like he could doze off.

  
“Would you teach me?” Farlan asked after a moment, voice pitched low so Isabel wouldn’t wake.

  
“What?” For some reason, Levi’s heart skipped.

  
“To read.” Farlan yawned. “Not now. Getting stabbed is tiring.”

  
Levi glowered at him, mouth trembling ever so slightly, catching Farlan’s sidelong glance. “I’m a shitty teacher.”

  
“You’re an even shittier liar,” Farlan mumbled. “Look, if you don’t want to, that’s fine. Just asking.”

  
“Fine.” Isabel shifted and nosed at Levi’s chest, just over his erratic heartbeat. Levi ignored how soothing it was, even though her sharp limbs dug into his body. “I can try.”

  
Farlan hummed. “Really?” His head dropped, falling to rest against the top of Levi’s.

  
Levi held perfectly still. “Has getting stabbed made you any less stupid?” he snarled quietly to hide his shiver.

  
“For a prick, you’re pretty comfortable. I get why Isabel passes out on you all the time.” He shifted to press against Levi harder, hissing when it jostled his injury. “ _Ah_ ,” he groaned quietly.

  
Levi swallowed coppery rage. “Farlan,” he said, surprised at his own gravely, dark tone.

  
Farlan lifted his head and looked down in surprise. “Sorry,” he began. “I didn’t mean—”

  
Levi _tsked_ , cutting over him, not wanting to hear what he was going to say. “I’ll be back.”

  
“Levi—” Farlan’s forehead creased. His body was so warm against Levi’s and Isabel slept like a kitten on his chest. Levi ached to stay and find out if Farlan would sleep with his nose in Levi’s hair.

  
“Trust me,” Levi said, ignoring the pangs in his chest, carefully untangling himself from Isabel, passing the book to Farlan before arranging Isabel against his pillows. He pulled the spare knife from beneath the pillow and handed it to Farlan. “I’ll be back,” he said again.

  
Farlan set his mouth in a thin line. “When?”

  
Levi looked at Isabel, curled up with her stockinged feet now pressed against Farlan’s thighs, and then at Farlan, with his messy hair and worried eyes spun out of moonlight. “Before she wakes up.”

  
Farlan pointed the knife at him, aimed at Levi’s heart, and tilted his head. “I’m holding you to that.”

  
Levi grinned. So did Farlan. Both looked a lot like a snarl.

 

* * *

  

Levi flew a little longer than he needed to, but the adrenaline rush was a relief compared to his jangling nerves. He alighted silently on a rooftop overlooking the market. Most of the vendors were closing up and the air already smelled like cheap beer, the scent twisting up with the wailing fiddles as the night crowd rolled in. Levi looked for a familiar head. Mousy brown hair, stiff walk, and a green cloak that stuck out like a sore thumb. Unicorn horn like a prick. Levi waited until the officer passed by an alley before dropping down onto his shoulders, clapping a cloth-covered hand over his mouth as the man tumbled face-first onto the filthy street.

  
Levi could _smell_ the sunlight on him and he caught sight of a tan-line on the man’s neck. Levi nearly bit his tongue in his fury. He dug his knees into the officer’s squirming back and leaned forward. “I’m going to slit your fucking throat,” he said, meaning every word.

  
The officer twisted his face to look over his shoulder at Levi with wide eyes the same dull brown as his hair. His breath was dampening the cloth. Levi was tempted to pinch his nostrils. He cocked his head. “First, I’m going to rob you, though. You pathetic pig.”

  
He remembered the officer’s lazy, amused face as he watched the thug advancing on Isabel and ground his knees into the man’s back. “Not so amused now, are you? You _fuck_ ,” Levi spat.

  
The officer tried to say something. Levi growled. The man squirmed and whimpered under him, his breath coming hot against Levi’s hand. “ _What?_ ” Levi snarled.

  
The man’s eyes rolled with fear.

  
“If you make a damn peep over a whisper, I will make you scream,” Levi promised, removing his hand and the cloth from the officer’s mouth.

  
“Breast pocket,” the man panted. “Check my breast pocket.” He shuddered violently.

  
Levi raised a brow. The man craned his neck and tried to roll.

  
“Don’t fucking move,” Levi hissed.

  
“My money,” the officer wheezed, “is in the breast pocket.” He paused to suck a few more panting gulps of air. “Of my uniform.”

  
“Fuck your uniform,” Levi growled.

  
“Please, just take the money,” the officer rasped.

  
Levi cocked his head, before rearing back to roll the man, placing a warning knee to the man’s solar plexus and his knife to his throat. “I will. And then I’ll slit your throat.”

  
The officer swallowed, throat bobbing. “Please, just take my money,” he breathed. “I have a family.”

  
Anger flared white hot in Levi’s vein’s, blurring his vision. “So do I,” he snarled, bending down and pressing the knife a little harder at the officer’s neck, just above his tan-line. He fumbled with the officer’s pocket for a moment before tugging out a fat little coin purse. “Nice,” Levi drawled.

  
The officer’s body had gone slack beneath Levi and he blinked up at Levi, looking utterly hopeless. “Please,” he said quietly.

  
“Fuck you,” Levi spat. He slipped his knife under the clasp holding the man’s cloak, slicing though it, pleased when the man winced violently. “You don’t deserve this,” he snapped, yanking it out from under the man and pushing himself to his feet. He balled the cloak up under his arm, gripped the coin purse tightly, and strode to the mouth of the alley. When he looked over his shoulder, the officer still lay flat on his back, staring up at the cavernous ceiling of the Underground.

  
“You’ll get killed if you lay there,” Levi spat. “Fucking idiot.”

  
He caught a faint “ _Thank you_ ” that made his skin crawl just as he around the corner.

 

 

  
Farlan met Levi at the door with the spare knife to his throat. Levi nearly smiled.

  
“What the hell is that?” Farlan asked, stepping back to let Levi inside and eyeing the green, lumpy bundle in Levi’s arms.

  
Levi dumped the contents on the table: slightly stale bread, dried meat, twisted, dirty, _beautiful_ root vegetables, and a bottle of cheap wine.  Farlan’s lips parted. “Levi,” he breathed, sounding stunned.

  
Levi shrugged. “Food,” he said.

  
“Yeah, I see that,” Farlan said faintly. “What is that?” He reached out to run one of those elegant fingers along the green cloak.

  
“I thought Isabel might need a new jacket,” said Levi. His mouth twitched.

  
Farlan’s look of fierce approval left Levi feeling like the floor was falling out from under his feet. His fingers twitched for the gear to right himself. He cleared his throat. “Is Isabel still sleeping?”

  
Farlan nodded, his piercing gaze not wavering from Levi’s less steady one.

  
“Told you,” Levi said.

  
“So you did,” Farlan murmured.

  
Levi looked at the food on the table and tried not to think of the officer. “Go to bed,” he sighed. “We can’t afford you getting that shit infected.” He eyed the bandage on Farlan’s bare torso, tempted to tell Farlan to put on a damned shirt while he was at it.

  
“Are you coming?” Farlan asked.

  
Levi shook his head.

  
“Cook in the morning.”

  
“Isabel’s in my bed.”

  
Farlan rolled his eyes. “Then sleep in hers.”

  
Levi shuddered. “ _Fuck_ no.”

  
A genuine little grin curled Farlan’s lips. The effect was breathtaking. “She is a grubby little thing, isn’t she.”

  
“Disgusting.”

  
Farlan paused, glancing at the bedroom and then back at Levi. He tilted his head, considering. “Take mine,” he said. “I don’t mind.”

  
Levi blinked. “What?”

  
“Surely I’m not any worse than Isabel. I’ll take her bed.”

  
Levi opened his mouth and then shut it again.

  
“Ouch. Alright, then.” Farlan’s smile faded off of his lips, but his eyes were bright. They looked nearly playful. The floor tilted unstably beneath Levi’s feet again. “Come on, don’t sleep in that chair again.” He meant that damn wooden one Levi had stitched him up in earlier. The one Levi spent nights in more often than not, propped up against the front door.

 

Farlan turned to walk back into the bedroom, and Levi gazed after him, mesmerized by the flex of his sleek back muscles. He had a starburst-shaped burn on his right shoulder and a ropey, livid purple scar slicing across his lower back. Levi wanted to ask where he'd gotten them.

  
Farlan paused at the threshold and glanced over his shoulder with a sinuous twist of his body. He raised his eyebrows.

  
Levi shook his head and Farlan’s brow furrowed on an unfathomable expression before he shrugged and disappeared into the dark of their bedroom. He left the door open.

  
Levi sat heavily in the chair. He counted their money and ignored how badly he wanted to feel huffing, sleepy breaths against his hair.

 

* * *

 

  
Levi woke to _green_.

  
“He’s not so old when he’s sleeping.” Isabel reached out and poked his noise. She was bending down to peer at his face.

  
Levi clicked his teeth, brushing her off. “I’m not sleeping.” He sat up straight in the wooden chair and carefully didn’t groan at his stiff muscles. “And I’m not old.”

  
Isabel tapped his nose again, grinning when he threatened to bite her. “You act old,” she said.

  
Levi caught her hand, having to press his lips firmly against a smile when she squealed. A quiet laugh caught his attention and he glanced up to see Farlan leaning against the wall, watching them with a faint smile. He wore one of his ratty white sleep shirts over his pants and his feet were bare.

  
A vibrant rush of heat set Levi’s spine on fire. He looked away quickly and flicked Isabel’s nose. She crossed her eyes and squinted at his finger, pressing her face against his hand briefly. Levi huffed. “You’re supposed to fight back,” he sighed, tapping between her eyes before taking his hand back, making a show of wiping it on his pants to get Isabel to squawk indignantly.

  
When he stood, he had a hard time muffling his sharp inhale and the pop of his joints.

  
“You are a little old,” came Farlan’s low drawl. He’d moved closer to ruffle Isabel’s hair and he tilted his head at Levi with a wicked light in his eyes. Isabel squirmed halfheartedly when he wrapped her in a headlock, mindful enough of Farlan’s wound that it made Levi’s throat stick.

  
“I should have sewed you up crooked.”

  
Farlan grinned, a real, sharp one. “Wouldn’t really make a difference,” he shrugged. Levi thought of his ruined torso and his slender stomach and growled.

  
“I’m hungry,” Isabel muttered, falling slack in Farlan’s grip. Farlan winced when her movement tugged at his stitches and let her go.

  
Levi clicked his tongue. “If you could cook, that wouldn’t be a problem.”

  
Isabel bared her teeth, sliding away from Farlan to trot up to Levi. “That’s not fair,” she pouted. “I can’t cook air.”

  
Levi winced. Without thinking, he met Farlan’s gaze over Isabel’s shoulder. Farlan’s pale eyes were tight. He quirked his mouth at Levi. “Can you cook soup, brat?” he asked, keeping his voice even.

  
Isabel crossed her arms. “Anyone can cook soup.”

  
“Prove it.”

  
“Prove you aren’t old.”

  
Levi rolled his eyes and lifted his lips on a light snarl. “Got teeth.”

  
Isabel made a noise that sounded a lot like a _tch_. Farlan’s eyes widened and he ducked his head to hide his mouth. Levi walked around her over to their table, quickly snagging the green fabric and tucking it by his side. He picked up a carrot and tossed it to Isabel, mouth twitching faintly at her wide eyes.

  
“I’m going to wash up, when I get back, the soup better be started.”

 

 

  
Isabel didn’t butcher the soup too badly, Levi thought with a flicker of something like pride. The carrots were undercooked and the meat was tough, but the wine Farlan dumped rather liberally into the mix wasn’t too bad. Isabel curled up next to the fire with her second bowl of soup and hummed.

  
“Pace yourself,” Levi mumbled. His stomach was sore, aching for more food, and he sighed, ignoring the loaf of bread. “That needs to see us through a couple days.” They were low on firewood as well. He shifted in his chair, getting ready to go.

  
Farlan sat in a chair with his long legs kicked out in front of himself, hands resting over his stomach. He’d given Isabel some of his food, ignoring Levi’s narrowed eyes. “What’s the plan, today?” he asked in a sleepy voice.

  
“You,” Levi said, “are doing nothing.”

  
Farlan frowned at him.

  
“What about me?” Isabel chirped. She had soup on her nose.

  
“You’re making sure he does nothing.”

  
Isabel nodded firmly.

  
“Hey!” Farlan said softly to her.

  
“You’re in trouble,” Isabel said around a mouthful. Her eyes crumpled up, freckles connecting.

  
Farlan rubbed at his nose. Levi had a flash of wiping blood from his face the day before, and how delicate his bone structure was. Farlan heaved a shallow sigh. Levi watched his eyes tighten and raised a brow.

  
“I won’t pull them,” Farlan said.

  
“I know you won’t, since you’re staying here.” Levi set his jaw. He struggled against nightmarish images of Farlan’s chest bloated with rot, silvery skin turning green and splitting apart.

  
“Big bro?” Isabel said gently.

  
Levi ignored her. Farlan searched his expression carefully, frown pulling at his mouth.

  
“Isabel,” Farlan said, without looking away from Levi. “Wanna prove that you can do dishes, too?”

  
“You’re both bastards,” Isabel said, tense under her amiable chirp, but she stood and collected their chipped bowls, muttering quietly to herself.

  
Levi stood stiffly and headed to their bedroom. Farlan trailed silently behind him.

  
“Don’t stab him again, big bro,” Isabel called after them.

  
Levi closed the door behind Farlan. “Sit,” he said.

  
Farlan strode past him to sit on Levi’s bed.

  
“Bastard,” Levi grumbled.

  
Farlan just tilted his head. “I’ve been stabbed before,” he said.

  
Levi thought of that livid rope of a scar across his lower back. “Stop saying that,” he snapped.

  
Farlan blinked. “Better me than Isabel,” he said carefully.

  
“Better neither of you,” Levi snarled. He pointed at the hem of Farlan’s night shirt. “Up.”

  
Farlan snorted, then tugged the shirt all the way off. His hair stood on end more than usual, but the shift of his muscles left Levi shoving his hand up through his own hair. Levi sat and helped Farlan unwind the bandages.

  
“Do they itch?”

  
Like hell,” Farlan said.

  
Levi unwound the last strip of fabric from his chest and eyed the stitches. “Does it hurt?” he said dully.

  
Farlan eyed him. “Like hell,” he said cheerfully. “But not like an infection.” He leaned and tugged the leg of his pants up. There was a little chunk of flesh missing from his calf, like someone had taken a spoon to his leg. “Feels nothin’ like that felt.”

  
“Good for you,” Levi said tightly. He reached out to press at the skin around the stitches. Farlan’s ribs were warm, but not fever-hot. The movement of his skin over his ribs and muscles made Levi think of silk-wrapped limbs, sleek and smooth and soft, decadent. He pushed the image away. To distract himself, he ran a finger across a jagged line of scarring on Farlan’s shoulder. Goosebumps erupted beneath Levi’s fingertips, and Levi snatched his hand away.

  
“Shit, sorry,” he began to mumble.

  
“Wanna know where they’re all from?” Farlan asked in an odd lilt, cutting him off. Levi couldn’t tell if he was teasing or reading his mind.

  
Levi imagined tracing his fingertips across all of the marks, watching Farlan’s body shiver and twitch. He swallowed hard. “Another time,” he said roughly.

  
Farlan smiled. Like most of his attempts at grins, it was downturned like his eyes. “Where are you going today?” he asked.

  
“If I tell you, will you follow?”

  
“Nope,” Farlan lied.

  
Levi tried to picture it, tapping Farlan’s nose like he had with Isabel earlier. He frowned. Farlan cleared his throat.

  
“Something on my face?”

  
Levi was reaching before he could think. He placed his finger on the bridge of Farlan’s nose, just over the bump of the old break. Farlan held perfectly still.

  
“A wall,” Farlan said, breath hot against Levi’s wrist.

  
“What?” Levi said dimly. Now that his finger was on Farlan’s nose, he didn’t know how to remove it.

  
Farlan’s mouth twisted. “That’s from a wall.” He reached a gently pulled Levi’s hand off his face, turning Levi’s veins icy with shame. Levi turned his face away, trying to tug his wrist out of Farlan’s grip, freezing when Farlan pressed his hand over the scar on his shoulder, the one Levi had traced a moment ago. “A bottle,” he said.

  
Levi couldn’t move. He stared at his own hand, trapped in Farlan’s grip. Farlan began to slide his hand to his collarbones.

  
“Stop,” Levi heard himself whisper.

  
Farlan released his hand immediately. He reached out slowly to tap at Levi’s temple. “A rock,” he said, cool finger pressing briefly to the fading mark at Levi’s hairline a thug had left behind two weeks ago.

  
Levi leaned back and away. “You aren’t coming with me,” he said.

  
Farlan’s face was completely unreadable. He folded his hands in his lap. “Right,” he said slowly. “I got that. I’m being babysat by a bird.”

  
Levi scowled.

  
Farlan bared his own teeth. “When will you be back?”

  
“Before she goes to sleep.” Levi glanced at Farlan’s stitches. “Clean yourself up and re-bandage that,” he said.

  
Farlan sighed. His muscles went slack. “Yes, sir.”

  
Levi stood to go, pausing briefly, considering running his hands through Farlan’s messy hair. He cracked his knuckles instead and left the room without a word.

 

 

  
This time when Levi returned, his armful of stolen firewood was knocked out of his grip by a blur of green and red. It startled him more than a knife to his throat.

  
Isabel buried her damp face in his neck the moment the door was shut behind him and for a heart-stopping moment, Levi thought something had happened to her or Farlan. Then he recognized the soft wool beneath his palms.

  
“Big brother,” Isabel mumbled thickly. She was smearing snot on his scarf. “I love it.”

  
Levi tsked and roughly messed her ponytails. “Does it fit?”

  
Isabel released her grip on him and took a step back, turning so Levi could see the unicorn on the back of the vest he’d made her last night. It fit, more or less. The grin she gave him was wild and wicked.

  
“Where’s mine?” came a smooth drawl.

  
Levi startled and whirled, finding Farlan leaning against the wall the the door, Levi’s spare knife in his hand.

  
“Wouldn’t look as good on you,” Levi replied. Levi thought of the officer flat on his back and how he hadn’t been there when Levi passed by the alley today. He wondered if he’d laid there until he died, or if he’d dragged his sorry ass back to the surface. Isabel wore the unicorn better than he had.

  
Farlan shrugged. “Ouch,” he said.

  
Isabel made a soft squawking sound when Levi bent to pick up the scattered firewood and scampered off to the bedroom. She returned with the red book a moment later and held it up.

  
“Big brother…” she said.

  
Levi ignored her.

  
She came closer. “Big brother?”

  
Levi moved to check on the soup. His stomach twisted with hunger.

  
“I love my vest,” Isabel said softly.

  
Levi turned on her. “You are a monster,” he said, pressing his hand to his mouth to hide what felt like a watery smile.

  
Isabel beamed at him.

 

 

She fell asleep curled up against his pillows again, with her feet tucked beneath Levi’s legs for warmth.

  
“She’s never going to take that vest off,” Farlan said lowly. He was once again leaning against the wall beside Levi. He left a gap between their bodies this time though, that Levi did his best to ignore.

  
“I’m going to have to wash it eventually.”

  
“Good luck,” Farlan murmured. He was silent for a moment and all Levi could hear were Isabel’s soft snores. Then he tilted his head a looked down at the book in Levi’s lap. “How long am I under house arrest?”

  
Levi rolled his eyes. “You’ll be fine in a day or two.” He expected Farlan to put of a fight, but he just hummed, low and pleasant.

  
“Perfect,” he said.

  
Levi frowned.

  
Farlan tapped the book. “You said you’d teach me.”

  
“I—”

  
Farlan stretched his legs out, circling his feet and making his ankles pop. He let out a quiet groan that set Levi’s blood on fire. “Please, big brother?”

  
Levi shuddered. “Don’t call me that,” he hissed.

  
Farlan grinned, lopsided and wide, then crossed his legs and leaned over Levi’s shoulder, close enough that Levi could feel his warmth. “C’mon then.” Farlan tapped the book. “If you teach me, you won’t have to teach the bird.” He looked at Isabel, expression going soft. “I’ll do it. Just teach me first.”

  
Levi swallowed. “It’s not that easy.” He looked away from Farlan’s wide, amused eyes.

  
“I’m not that stupid.”

  
“Oh?”

  
Farlan snorted. He took the book and opened it. He pointed to the first page again, the one with the beautiful picture of the spiraling cone—shell, Levi corrected himself. “That,” Farlan said proudly, “Says ‘Flora and Fauna.’”

  
Levi rolled his eyes. “You know that because I told you.”

  
Farlan shook his head and tapped his temple. “I remembered. That’s half the battle, no?” His shoulder was pressed up against Levi’s, firm and warm, and Isabel’s feet were burrowed against Levi’s thighs and suddenly he was choking on a dangerous feeling.

  
“Pay attention,” Levi growled softly, forcing air out through his tight lungs.

  
Farlan laughed softly. He pointed to the picture beneath the words. “Shell,” he murmured.

  
“Shut up,” breathed Levi.

 

  
  
He was still suffocating when he began to drift off sitting up, Farlan’s breath hot in his hair, Isabel’s feet in his lap. He wound his hands around Isabel’s ankles and counted Farlan’s breaths, thinking one more minute and he’d move. Just one more.

 

 

Levi’s breath caught in his chest when he floundered awake hours later in a pile of limbs. He had a nose full of Isabel’s hair as she burrowed close for warmth, and an arm curved heavily over his waist. Levi tried to pull back from Isabel and froze when he realized Farlan had wrapped his body around his back, that it was Farlan’s arm draped over his waist. He held his breath at the disgruntled snuffling against his neck and the way Isabel made an unhappy noise when he moved.

  
_Please don’t wake up_.

  
Farlan’s arm tightened briefly before he let out a long sigh and his breathing evened out.

  
Levi untangled himself with painstaking care, looking over his shoulder with bitter longing, heart skipping when he met Farlan’s very pale, very open eyes. Farlan raised a brow and his hand twitched against the empty spot Levi had left behind.

  
Levi couldn’t breath. He moved forward and Farlan blinked at him, sleepy and mussed and pleasantly surprised. It hurt. Levi gently shifted Isabel until she latched onto Farlan’s body, curling around him like she had Levi.

  
Farlan didn’t say anything when Levi left the room, ignoring that damned discarded book where it had fallen to the floor.  The wooden chair was freezing compared warm, sleepy bodies.  Levi spent the night sharpening his knife and each beat of his heart throbbed like a stab wound. Remembering, he thought, was the entire battle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had so damn much fun writing this. Bless you, Rinky. Seriously I am so grateful to you.
> 
> This is going to be a three-parter. The second part of this involves a thug trio night off. And the third part is going to take place after acwnr and will be posted separately.
> 
> I surprised myself with how vehemently I loved levifar. Also the title is from So its es immer ;)

**Author's Note:**

> While I mostly jumped ship to Gintama (where I'm drowning quite happily these days), I really enjoyed writing this. So fucking much. I'm working on the next parts and am prioritizing them. It's the least I can do, given the 800 wips I've temporarily forsaken. (Lmao sorry, Sugita Tomokazu opened his mouth and I sold my soul.)
> 
> Also, I'm all for Thug Trio cuddle piles. And I drew a lot from No. 6 while imagining the Underground. I debated what they cooked on for a while & eventually settled on a fire rather than something like kerosene heater or something. But West Block was 100% a nod to my all-time fave bastard <3
> 
> PLOT WAHT PLOT? <\--- also how I feel about my whole entire life.
> 
> Update: I have no idea if/when I'll be back for parts 2 and 3... rip.


End file.
